Vatican City, Jan 26, 2015 / 11:33 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a speech delivered on Saturday to participants in a conference on how to handle causes of nullity, Pope Francis encouraged a marriage process that is both sure of its judgements and prompt. The three-day conference is sponsored by the Pontifical Gregorian University, and marks the 10th anniversary of Dignitas connubii, an instruction of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts to tribunals on handling causes of the nullity of marriage. Pope Francis praised the document in his Jan. 24 address as “a modest but useful handbook that really takes the ministers of the tribunals by the hand toward the implementation of a process that is both secure and prompt.” “A secure process because it indicates and explains with clarity the goal of the process itself, namely moral certainty: this requires that any prudent, positive doubt of error be totally excluded, even if the mere possibility of the contrary is not excluded. A prompt process because – as common experience teaches – he who knows the path to follow travels more quickly.” The Pope greeted all those who came to the congress from across the world, calling their presence “a great consolation” because “it seems to me a generous response to the stresses that every authentic minister of the tribunals of the Church feels for the good of souls.” “The knowledge and, I would say, the use” of Dignitas connubii, Pope Francis stated, “can, even in the future, help ministers of tribunals to shorten case proceedings, often perceived by spouses as long and wearisome.”   “Up until now, not all of the resources that this instruction makes available for a prompt process, devoid of every formalism for its own sake, have been explored; nor can we exclude further legislative acts in the future aimed at the same end.” He made reference to the defender of the bond, a position appointed in each diocese in marriage cases who, according to canon law, “is bound by office to propose and explain everything which reasonably can be brought forth against nullity or dissolution.” Pope Francis said the role of the defender of the bond is a “proper and original” one in the marriage process, adding that “his presence and the faithful fulfillment of his task do not condition the judge, but allow and encourage the impartiality of his judgment, having set before him the arguments in favor of and contrary to the declaration of nullity of marriage." Read more

Vatican City, Jan 25, 2015 / 07:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis on Jan. 24 stressed the need for dialogue between different faiths, saying that it is essential in preventing violence and promoting peace. “Perhaps now more than ever such a... Read more

Vatican City, Jan 25, 2015 / 03:37 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- More than “theoretical discussions,” what unites Christians is encounter, and a willingness to “challenge one another,” said Pope Francis as he marked the conclusion of the... Read more

Vatican City, Jan 25, 2015 / 12:35 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- During his weekly Angelus address, Pope Francis decried the recent escalation of violence in Ukraine, and later called on Christians to pray for unity with one another. “With deep concern... Read more

Vatican City, Jan 24, 2015 / 04:20 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis was surprised that his words on responsible parenthood were not widely taken in the sense that he intended them, a Vatican official related in an interview on Thursday. Archbishop Giovanni Becciu, Substitute at the Secretariat of State, also told Avvenire, the Italian bishops' publication, on Jan. 22 that the Pope was saddened at the misunderstanding. “The Pope is truly sorry that it created such disorientation. He absolutely did not want to disregard the beauty and the value of large families,” Archbishop Becciu stated. “Seeing the headlines, the Holy Father, with whom I spoke yesterday, smiled and was a bit surprised that his words were not fully contextualized with regards to a very clear passage of Humanae vitae on responsible parenthood,” Archbishop Becciu stated. Bl. Paul VI's 1968 encyclical on the regulation of birth said that “responsible parenthood, as we use the term here, has one further essential aspect of paramount importance. It concerns the objective moral order which was established by God, and of which a right conscience is the true interpreter. In a word, the exercise of responsible parenthood requires that husband and wife, keeping a right order of priorities, recognize their own duties toward God, themselves, their families and human society.” In the in-flight press conference back from Manila Jan. 19, Pope Francis said, “some think that -- excuse the language -- that in order to be good Catholics, we have to be like rabbits,” an stressed that it was instead important to exercise “responsible parenthood.” Archbishop Becciu said the Pope's statement “must be interpreted in the sense that the procreative act of humans cannot follow the logic of the animal instict, but it is instead the fruit of a responsible act that is rooted in love and in the mutual gift of the self.” He then lamented that “unfortunately, very often the contemporary culture tends to diminish the authentic beauty and high value of conjugal love, with all the negative consequences that follow.” During the press conference, Pope Francis had also said he is saddened when people say three children per family is too much, citing that three children per couple “is the number experts say is important to keep the population going.” Many interpreted this as a proclamation as a normative number of children for each Christian couple, but Archbishop Becciu dismissed this interpretation. “The number three only refers to the minimum number that would assure the stability of population, as indicated by sociologists and demographers. In no way did the Pope want to say that it represented the 'just’'number of children for each married couple,” Archbishop Becciu said. He then explained that “every Christian couple, in light of grace, is called to discern according to a variety of divine and human parameters the number of children they should have.” The archbishop said the correct interpretation of Pope Francis' words comes from the teaching of Bl. Paul VI and from the ancient tradition of the Church, which Pius XI’s 1930 encyclical Casti connubii reiterated: that “even if the unitive and procreative aspects of the sexual act must never be separated,” the act “must always be included in the logic of love” with regard to the “capacity of each person to open to the mystery of the gift of self in the bonds of marriage.” Read more

Vatican City, Jan 24, 2015 / 02:46 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis told a group of religious men and women that they are the forerunners in working towards Christian unity, which is something that first requires personal conversion, holiness and pray... Read more